“Locke” is a
movie-making stunt that wins its dare. Writer-director Steven Knight (he penned
“Eastern Promises”) has fashioned a real-time thriller that follows a
construction engineer –- played by Tom Hardy -– fighting to keep all he owns and
loves as he drives 90 minutes from Birmingham to London to witness the
premature birth of his third child. No guns involved. The damage is emotional. The pending child is the product of a one-night stand. The mother is
frantic. Hardy’s Ivan Locke -– we only see him inside his BMW, interacting by
phone –- declares himself in control and refuses panic. But he must inform his
wife of his transgression, assure his two sons all is well, and track the
status of his massive work project -– a skyscraper concrete pouring -– that costs
untold millions. Tense and without a wasted second, “Locke” booms loud on
Hardy’s fierce performance as a man whose hubris is as destructive as negligence,
a trait worn by his dead father who produced Ivan out of wedlock. Knight traps us
tight inside that BMW with Locke as his life shreds as the minutes tick by, the
most valiant action righting one’s life errors. However futile. Seemingly
small, “Locke” is epic. A
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